Social networking websites provide a dynamic environment in which members can connect to and communicate with other members. These websites may commonly provide online mechanisms allowing members to interact within their preexisting social networks, as well as create new social networks. Members may include any individual or entity, such as an organization or business. Among other attributes, social networking websites allow members to effectively and efficiently communicate relevant information to their social networks.
A member of a social network may highlight or share information, news stories, relationship activities, music, video, and any other content of interest to areas of the website dedicated to the member or otherwise made available for such content. Other members of the social network may access the shared content by browsing member profiles or performing dedicated searches. Upon access to and consideration of the content, the other members may react by taking one or more responsive actions, such as providing feedback or an opinion about the content. The ability of members to interact in this manner fosters communications among them and helps to realize the goals of social networking websites.
A social network may be modeled as a social graph. Node graphs, such as social graphs, may include an extremely large number of nodes and edges connecting the nodes. In the case of a social networking system, users are able to access and share vast amounts of information reflected in the node graph. The number of nodes, for example, may be in the hundreds of millions or even billions. The maintenance and provision of such vast amounts of data present many challenges.